Sportsnet: Rob Ray: Scott should go after ‘stupid’ Kessel again

[ThrowDemTongs]

A man does what he needs to do to win (or not get pummeled in) a fight. If that involves swinging a stick, so be it.

 

[Preisst*]

The decay continues.

 

[Kyle Doobas*]

I appreciate you don't play hockey yourself and I understand that you're just learning

Elliot Friedman said that most players he spoke to about the incident didn't feel that Kessel was especially out of line and said they would've probably reacted similarly.

A man does what he needs to do to win (or not get pummeled in) a fight. If that involves swinging a stick, so be it.

No kidding. What was Kessel supposed to do? Did Scott think he was just going to allow him to pummel him? Of course he's going to defend himself in any way he can, and when a guy like Kessel is up against a 6'8" enforcer, dropping the gloves or turtling or whatever wouldn't exactly be a very efficient way of defending himself.

Moral of the story: don't attack people who, firstly, didn't agree to fight you; secondly, did nothing to warrant an attack; and most of all, had no real recourse other than attacking you back with the weapon they had in their hand.

 

[ThrowDemTongs]

No kidding. What was Kessel supposed to do? Did Scott think he was just going to allow him to pummel him? Of course he's going to defend himself in any way he can, and when a guy like Kessel is up against a 6'8" enforcer, dropping the gloves or turtling or whatever wouldn't exactly be a very efficient way of defending himself.

Exactly. When there's such a mismatch (and one guy is clearly not a fighter), trying to claim that both participants must adhere to some code of honor (one that exists pretty much exclusively among fighters) is stupid.

 

[Disgruntled Observer*]

I'm going to look at this issue generally, without attaching names/teams to players.

I think it's wrong for big 6'8" players to drop the gloves with smaller star players. On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being a little bad, 10 being as bad as it gets in hockey) I'd give it a 4.
I give that ranking regardless of team or player.
Goons attacking smaller star players is bad, across the board.

Now I'll rank a player taking two two-handed round house swings with his hockey stick against a players ankle, then one more when that player is in a scrum.
I'd say 8 out of 10.
Using your hockey stick as a weapon against a player is ridiculously bad on it's own... but then to continue doing it while that player is in a scrum with other players is both cowardly and simply unacceptable.
I give that ranking regardless of team or player.

Now I will attach names to what happened.
Scott was the goon. Kessel was the skill player.
Uh oh.
Looks like Kessel is FAR more in the wrong when you look at this rationally. He's a leaf. And I likey like the leafs.
I'm not however going to change my rational opinion simply because of which jersey these players were wearing.
This is called thinking objectively and rationally.

In my opinion, as per the sport of hockey, Kessel had two choices when that stupid goon dropped his gloves.
One, skate away (Kessel is FAR faster), or (god forbid) stand up to him and take a punch or two. Oh the horror. I mean, this is hockey, not ballet. I would fully understand Kessel skating away, however. Scott is HUGE.

But to two handed round house swing his hockey stick like a weapon? To do it once more once Scott was in a scrum?
I would have completely understood if Kessel was charged criminally for that unacceptable behaviour.

Scott acted like a stupid goon. Kessel acted borderline criminally.
Imagine giving that advice to a young boy?
"If a big bully takes a swing at you, don't tell. Don't run away. Don't stand up to him.
No.
You should go grab a weapon (hockey stick or bat) and take 2 handed roundhouse swings at the bully. Then, after the bully is busy with other people, run back in and give him one more 2 handed roundhouse swing with your bat... just for fun."
So ridiculous.

I don't really believe that ANYBODY sides with Kessel.
People are just joking around and arguing for the sake of arguing.

Boy, did he ever get off easy.

 

[mikeo1]

I'm going to look at this issue generally, without attaching names/teams to players.

I think it's wrong for big 6'8" players to drop the gloves with smaller star players. On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being a little bad, 10 being as bad as it gets in hockey) I'd give it a 4.
I give that ranking regardless of team or player.
Goons attacking smaller star players is bad, across the board.

Now I'll rank a player taking two two-handed round house swings with his hockey stick against a players ankle, then one more when that player is in a scrum.
I'd say 8 out of 10.
Using your hockey stick as a weapon against a player is ridiculously bad on it's own... but then to continue doing it while that player is in a scrum with other players is both cowardly and simply unacceptable.
I give that ranking regardless of team or player.

Now I will attach names to what happened.
Scott was the goon. Kessel was the skill player.
Uh oh.
Looks like Kessel is FAR more in the wrong when you look at this rationally. He's a leaf. And I likey like the leafs.
I'm not however going to change my rational opinion simply because of which jersey these players were wearing.
This is called thinking objectively and rationally.

In my opinion, as per the sport of hockey, Kessel had two choices when that stupid goon dropped his gloves.
One, skate away (Kessel is FAR faster), or (god forbid) stand up to him and take a punch or two. Oh the horror. I mean, this is hockey, not ballet. I would fully understand Kessel skating away, however. Scott is HUGE.

But to two handed round house swing his hockey stick like a weapon? To do it once more once Scott was in a scrum?
I would have completely understood if Kessel was charged criminally for that unacceptable behaviour.

Scott acted like a stupid goon. Kessel acted borderline criminally.
Imagine giving that advice to a young boy?
"If a big bully takes a swing at you, don't tell. Don't run away. Don't stand up to him.
No.
You should go grab a weapon (hockey stick or bat) and take 2 handed roundhouse swings at the bully. Then, after the bully is busy with other people, run back in and give him one more 2 handed roundhouse swing with your bat... just for fun."
So ridiculous.

I don't really believe that ANYBODY sides with Kessel.
People are just joking around and arguing for the sake of arguing.

Boy, did he ever get off easy.

Nah, goon attacking a smaller player is a 10 while slashing is probably a 2 at most.

My post is just as "objective" and "rational" as yours - looks like Scott's going to get the death penalty.

 

[Dreakmur]

I don't see anything wrong with what Kessel did here. As other people have said, he did what he needed to do. I know I would have use my stick in the same situation.

Sure, it would be great if Kessel could protect himself in a fair fight. Unfortunately, that's not going to happen here, and that leaves us with just 2 other options. Kessel can either refuse to defends himself or he can defend himself with more nefarious methods. I'm glad he chose the latter.

 

[Disgruntled Observer*]

I don't see anything wrong with what Kessel did here. As other people have said, he did what he needed to do. I know I would have use my stick in the same situation.

Sure, it would be great if Kessel could protect himself in a fair fight. Unfortunately, that's not going to happen here, and that leaves us with just 2 other options. Kessel can either refuse to defends himself or he can defend himself with more nefarious methods. I'm glad he chose the latter.

So when Scott was in a scrum and Kessel went back in and two handed roundhouse hit him with his stick one more time... was that still Kessel "defending himself"?

 

[Disgruntled Observer*]

Nah, goon attacking a smaller player is a 10 while slashing is probably a 2 at most.

My post is just as "objective" and "rational" as yours - looks like Scott's going to get the death penalty.

Your opinion is neither rational nor objective.

But mine is.

Here's why...

If a leaf player was slashed while in a scrum with other players by a two handed roundhouse hockey stick swing, you would be OUTRAGED.
I would think the exact same thing that I currently do.

When I look at an incident, the jerseys don't matter for me. I've matured mentally to a point that I've risen above such petty bias.
You haven't yet. You still have a lot of room to grow.
My advice is to keep growing.

You are WELL aware that swinging a hockey stick in a roundhouse against a player in a scrum is wrong. It's very very very wrong.
Much worse than a bigger player dropping the gloves against a smaller player.
This is not opinion.
This is fact. Common sense.

Really try asking someone neutral... go ahead.
Ask "Hey, what do you think is worse?
A big guy punching a small guy?
Or a guy taking a weapon and doing 2 roundhouse swings against another person. Then coming back for a 3rd swing with his weapon while the other guy was busy in a scrum"

There's such a patronizingly obvious answer to that question that whoever you ask probably won't bother answering.

 

[Blufreezy]

All these people claiming theyd stand up to Scott are the reason all these YouTube and liveleak 1 punch videos exist.

Thank you.

 

[Disgruntled Observer*]

All these people claiming theyd stand up to Scott are the reason all these YouTube and liveleak 1 punch videos exist.

Thank you.

He should either have stood up to Scott without a weapon, or skated away. I'd have no problem with either. Skating away seems like the most logical choice, given the size difference.

If you had a son, would you tell him;
"If a bully try's to fight you, don't fight back or run away or tell.
No.
Grab a weapon and hit him twice with it.
Then, when the altercation is over, run back in and hit him with your weapon one more time".

Somebody that behaved like that would simply be psychotic and would be in a mental institution or jail by the age of 16.

 

[Blufreezy]

My son would play goalie, so he can hack and slash at the unpadded backs of people legs and ankles with his "weapon" at will without dealing with all this fake holier than thou macho man backlash.

 

[Disgruntled Observer*]

My son would play goalie, so he can hack and slash at the unpadded backs of people legs and ankles with his "weapon" at will without dealing with all this fake holier than thou macho man backlash.

It looked like the Clark/Kharlamov slash... THREE TIMES.

Yet you defend and make lame excuses for it because Kessel is a leaf and you 'likey like' the leafs.

Disgraceful.

If another player took a two handed roundhouse swing with his stick to a leaf player in a scrum, you would cry in outrage. I think you would actually cry.
You would be so angry that you would shake and convulse.
The paramedics would be called.
You would start ripping the skin off of your face with your fingernails.
THAT'S how angry you would be.

But if a leaf does it... no biggie.

People are so mentally weak...

 

[Leaf Rocket]

It looked like the Clark/Kharlamov slash... THREE TIMES.

Yet you defend and make lame excuses for it because Kessel is a leaf and you 'likey like' the leafs.

Disgraceful.

If another player took a two handed roundhouse swing with his stick to a leaf player in a scrum, you would cry in outrage. I think you would actually cry.
You would be so angry that you would shake and convulse.
The paramedics would be called.
You would start ripping the skin off of your face with your fingernails.
THAT'S how angry you would be.

But if a leaf does it... no biggie.

People are so mentally weak...

If YOU out of all the people are calling people's defense and opinion irrational when you've been crapping on Kessel the entire time during his tenure here without any strong merit. Saying it's going to be written in stone that Kessel will cave and not perform in the playoffs, isn't a playoff warrior, can't score under Carlyle, Seguin is gonna make us regret it more in the playoffs yada yada yada yada. WOW lol.

About the crying thing...I gotta ask if you cried when Kessel was scoring and outplaying majority of the time you thought it was going to be a bust. Especially your protege who by the way is sitting in Dallas atm, in Texas. Still waiting to see the richard, selke and the ross hardware. Don't worry, Norris is for Hamilton I know...I'll wait for it to happen.... With that said...I'd LOVE to see how you'd react with a 7'0 enforcer coming after you, hell forget scott, look at Chara while you tried to score a goal on him.

People maybe weak but they at least get their reality check and become stronger. Not moan and ***** about 1967, not cry about a trade that's been done and over with and dance around the trades bringing the same topic over and over again. Derailing a thread about a trade non stop...Which btw...I'm warning you about right now.

Anyways...Rob ray is a a fool. I mean he legit thought Kessel should leave the ice and get someone on there, who the hell has that done that? Like seriously...major meat head.

 

[Raym11]

i'm pretty sure the last thing a Sabre wants to do now is go after Kessel



The only way out is in a body bag

 

[Raym11]

I'm going to look at this issue generally, without attaching names/teams to players.

I think it's wrong for big 6'8" players to drop the gloves with smaller star players. On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being a little bad, 10 being as bad as it gets in hockey) I'd give it a 4.
I give that ranking regardless of team or player.
Goons attacking smaller star players is bad, across the board.

Now I'll rank a player taking two two-handed round house swings with his hockey stick against a players ankle, then one more when that player is in a scrum.
I'd say 8 out of 10.
Using your hockey stick as a weapon against a player is ridiculously bad on it's own... but then to continue doing it while that player is in a scrum with other players is both cowardly and simply unacceptable.
I give that ranking regardless of team or player.

Now I will attach names to what happened.
Scott was the goon. Kessel was the skill player.
Uh oh.
Looks like Kessel is FAR more in the wrong when you look at this rationally. He's a leaf. And I likey like the leafs.
I'm not however going to change my rational opinion simply because of which jersey these players were wearing.
This is called thinking objectively and rationally.

In my opinion, as per the sport of hockey, Kessel had two choices when that stupid goon dropped his gloves.
One, skate away (Kessel is FAR faster), or (god forbid) stand up to him and take a punch or two. Oh the horror. I mean, this is hockey, not ballet. I would fully understand Kessel skating away, however. Scott is HUGE.

But to two handed round house swing his hockey stick like a weapon? To do it once more once Scott was in a scrum?
I would have completely understood if Kessel was charged criminally for that unacceptable behaviour.

Scott acted like a stupid goon. Kessel acted borderline criminally.
Imagine giving that advice to a young boy?
"If a big bully takes a swing at you, don't tell. Don't run away. Don't stand up to him.
No.
You should go grab a weapon (hockey stick or bat) and take 2 handed roundhouse swings at the bully. Then, after the bully is busy with other people, run back in and give him one more 2 handed roundhouse swing with your bat... just for fun."
So ridiculous.

I don't really believe that ANYBODY sides with Kessel.
People are just joking around and arguing for the sake of arguing.

Boy, did he ever get off easy.

didnt read lol

 

[crump]

Slashing at pads on legs 1/10
Sasquatch attacking skilled player 8/10
Blind siding hit 8/10
Slash to the head 10/10
Trolling an Internet forum 11/10

 

[Disgruntled Observer*]

Slashing at pads on legs 1/10
Sasquatch attacking skilled player 8/10
Blind siding hit 8/10
Slash to the head 10/10
Trolling an Internet forum 11/10

You, me, and everyone else in this thread have the same opinion.

We ALL agree that nhl hockey players taking their stick as a weapon and doing two handed roundhouse swings at another player who's in a scrum with other players is bad.
Real bad.
REAL bad.

I simply have the same opinion of that act regardless of what jersey the player is wearing.
Most of the other posters in this thread don't.

That's it.
It really is that simple.

 

[Disgruntled Observer*]

If YOU out of all the people are calling people's defense and opinion irrational when you've been crapping on Kessel the entire time during his tenure here without any strong merit. Saying it's going to be written in stone that Kessel will cave and not perform in the playoffs, isn't a playoff warrior, can't score under Carlyle, Seguin is gonna make us regret it more in the playoffs yada yada yada yada. WOW lol.

About the crying thing...I gotta ask if you cried when Kessel was scoring and outplaying majority of the time you thought it was going to be a bust. Especially your protege who by the way is sitting in Dallas atm, in Texas. Still waiting to see the richard, selke and the ross hardware. Don't worry, Norris is for Hamilton I know...I'll wait for it to happen.... With that said...I'd LOVE to see how you'd react with a 7'0 enforcer coming after you, hell forget scott, look at Chara while you tried to score a goal on him.

People maybe weak but they at least get their reality check and become stronger. Not moan and ***** about 1967, not cry about a trade that's been done and over with and dance around the trades bringing the same topic over and over again. Derailing a thread about a trade non stop...Which btw...I'm warning you about right now.

Anyways...Rob ray is a a fool. I mean he legit thought Kessel should leave the ice and get someone on there, who the hell has that done that? Like seriously...major meat head.

Kessel had 36 goals in 70 games as a 21 year old.
I knew then, 2 years ago, last week, and now that he puts up a lot of points.

I simply acknowledge (as does everyone else in the league that's not a leaf fan) that he is terrible at hockey in every capacity possible other than putting up points.

Seguin is so young that last season (his 'bad' season) he was so young that he was at an age that Kadri couldn't even make an nhl team.
They traded him for a guy that puts up near Kessel type numbers.

All of this is what I thought.
Not the nonsense you said/lied.

 

[agropop]

None of what happened inspires any sense of outrage, with the exception of the Clarkson suspension I found the entire episode highly entertaining. As far as I'm concerned it's all good for the rivalry, can't wait to play them again.

 

[onebighockeyfan]

Scott is a moron....period!

He has loss the respect of many NHL teams and players with his actions.

I don't think so. Only in Leaf land. Kessel lost more respect with his girlish stickwork.

 

[ULF_55]

/time to move on it is over - Ray doesn't deserve the attention in a Leafs' forum.